


Unspoken

by Lanerose



Category: Tales of the Abyss
Genre: Game Spoilers, Gen, Post-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-04-23
Updated: 2007-04-23
Packaged: 2018-07-18 09:37:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7309741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lanerose/pseuds/Lanerose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-game, Jade seeks out Luke for a discussion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unspoken

“You aren’t going to tell them, are you?” Jade asked. Luke jumped, startled from his contemplation of the moon. He sighed, relaxing back into the window seat.

“Jeez, Jade. Give me a heart attack, why don’t you?” He asked, one hand resting protectively over his chest. The moon sure was bright. It hung low in the sky, the last fading thumbnail of light that preceded the new moon. Jade crossed what little distance remained between them and came to parade rest by the window seat, effectively boxing Luke in.

“You didn’t answer my question.” Jade wasn’t looking at him, but it was the careful, deliberate kind of not looking at him that always made Luke twitch. He shook his head.

“What is there to tell?” He pulled his knee against his chest and rested his head upon it as he continued to stare into the night. Jade glanced at him then, eyes widening slightly but intentionally.

“Rather a lot, I should think.” Jade paused a beat. Luke turned to look at the older man, and regretted it almost immediately. Deep brown eyes stared into his own green eyes. “For instance, they might wish to know that you now remember all of Asch’s life in addition to your own.”

Luke felt his jaw drop, but there wasn’t a damned thing he could do about that. His muscles tensed as he involuntarily sat up straight. He shook his head, a denial forming on his lips, but one glance at Jade cut that off before it could truly begin.

“I thought so.” Jade brought his right hand forward and adjusted his glasses. “I had theorized that it was possible, even probable, that such a thing would happen – but it is nice to have confirmation from time to time. And you really should tell them.”

Luke watched Jade for a minute before turning away. He relaxed against the window seat, staring off into the night. The Fonstone ring hadn’t been obscured by the night. Even with the decrease in the power of the fonic artes, it had not faded. The Fonstone ring hung in the sky as it always had, watching over Auldrant below it from high above, higher even than the Albiore went. He – both as Luke and Asch – had always found it fascinating. Something so solid, so real, and probably heavy – but it never dropped to the ground, never behaved the way anything else, thrown up, invariably did.

“Luke…?” Jade’s expression had changed when Luke glanced at the man out of the corner of his eye. The twisted smirk and upright posture had shifted to something softer, not quite slouching but not tense either, and little lines had appeared at the corners of his eyes. Jade’s right hand came up, and headed a little way towards Luke’s shoulder before it dropped loosely back to the man’s side.

“They wouldn’t understand…” Luke said eventually, not turning away from the stars. Jade shook his head and opened his mouth. Luke’s face was slack and his eyes were unfocused as he cut the colonel off. “They wouldn’t. Natalia… I can’t even imagine what she’d say if she knew both her childhood friends were back in one body. Guy still has issues with Asch, with the original Luke fon Fabre, even if he won’t admit it. Anise might be okay with it, I guess, but she’d eventually say something, and then everyone would know.”

A bitter taste filled Luke’s mouth as he finished. Jade stood beside him, silent, eyes unfocused. A mockingbird began to sing in the distance, and Luke felt an unwanted smile lift the edges of his mouth. He was a joke. Perhaps that was all right, though. He always had been.

“I’m still me,” the redhead continued, “and I guess that’s the problem. Sure, I remember everything about Asch, but that’s not who I am. And I’m not sure they’d understand that now, or ever, really.”

The night had a stillness to it, even in spite of the mockingbird. Engeve, so far from the bustle of the major cities, slumbered on around them. The entire world had faded with the sun, leaving only themselves and the bird.

“What about Tear? Myself?” Jade asked, voice soft and low. Luke tilted his head so that he could face the older man.

“You were going to find out.” Luke sighed, and the sound felt heavy in his ears. “Past experience alone guaranteed that. But you also know how to keep your mouth shut.” Luke looked Jade over once. “At least, I think you do.”

“And Tear?” Jade repeated, quieter still. The tall man stared intensely but not intimidatingly down at the green-eyed boy, watching him carefully. Luke shrugged.

“I…” He stopped, and Jade waited for him. Luke looked down, focusing on his gloves. They were worn a bit, and he would need a new pair soon. Maybe Tear would –

Jade cleared his throat. Luke looked up.

“I want to tell her. Or at least, I think I do.” He paused, field of vision shifting to a spot on the wooden wall beyond Jade’s shoulder. “I don’t know how, though. Or what she’ll say. Huh. Guess I’m still pathetic.”

The bird continued to sing. The older man didn’t bother to correct him, and something that wasn’t quite a cough and wasn’t quite a laugh forced itself through Luke’s dry throat.

“If I may suggest,” Jade began, turning to look out the window, “Tear will most likely discover this at some point.” His glance flickered quickly to the young man on the window seat before darting back to the forests of the Rugnica plains. “The question isn’t whether she will find out or not, but how she will find out.”

“She’ll be pretty mad if I don’t tell her, huh?” Luke swung his legs off the window seat. Jade stepped slightly sideways, allowing the boy to pass. The red-head walked over to the door, opening it, and stopped. “And Jade?”

“Hm?” The colonel glanced over his shoulder. Luke smiled.

“Thanks.”

 

 


End file.
